Best of February 2026

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue [image or embed] — Omg. WTF […]

Grab bag of reviews and the like

Let these build up for too long once again. Maybe that’s just how it always is? Anyway, headed out for a fast tour for the new Mannequins, so figured I’d best make room for new fun coming in: https://stopandsmellthebooks.substack.com/p/ledfeather-by-stephen-graham-jones https://boulderbookstore.net/catalog/fiction-readers/horror https://maxashermiller.substack.com/p/the-best-books-of-2025 Bookshots: ‘States Of Grace’ by Stephen Graham Jones | LitReactor http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2025/12/the-heritage-month-project-literary.html 11 Monster Books

Manny back in the world

As of today. Well, him and Sawyer. Proud to have Night of the Mannequins out again, this time from Tor Nightfire. Thanks, Kelly Lonesome, and the rest of the team. Hope this novella finds a whole new swath of people to hang out with:

Cool BHH series

Or, readalong? Analysis / reaction(s) while reading? It’s cool:

LA Times Book Prizes

I hear that maybe The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is the first novel to be a finalist in TWO categories? Could be, not sure. Either way, super honored by it—thrilled to be alongside these amazing writers and their excellent books: https://www.latimes.com/events/festival-of-books/book-prizes

Blue butterfly land

Hey, remembered to stop this one at “10” as well. I’m getting better. Well, less losery?

Best Reads from Lately

Finally remembered to do this at “10,” instead of a bajillionty: Love Medicine Audio Guide | National Endowment for the Arts https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/stone-age-teenager-was-mauled-by-a-bear-28-000-years-ago-skeletal-analysis-confirms 3LBE Magazine – Issue 46: Songs Never Sung by Premee Mohamed The Texas AI Boom is Outpacing Water Regulations https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/czej70jyg4eo Academic Neutrality – Lightspeed Magazine https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/business/the-new-fabio-is-claude.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share https://slate.com/culture/2026/02/super-bowl-2026-bad-bunny-halftime-show-lady-gaga-liam-ricky-martin-trump.html After a Fire Ravaged an Iconic

Appreciate the Effort

(I don't know how to feel after the library committee meeting tonight. Part of me is appreciative that I did not get any significant resistance on most of my titles, including Disability Intimacy and Year of the Tiger. But I am still crushed that I lost on this one, and mad that it came to

People and Libby and Good Stab

Honored to be in that cool category with Silvia Moreno-Garcia: https://people.com/2026-libby-book-awards-finalists-full-list-exclusive-11898327

Recent Interviews and the Like

Okay, I should probably say “Recent,” meaning “not exactly recent,” as these go back a little farther than usual. First is the Etch documentary episode—I got to be the pilot for the excellent and amazing First Word on Horror series! (which was probably just a “his footage randomly got through post first,” nothing special about

Finalist times two, and this:

And, in addition to BHH having somehow made it to the final ballot for a Splatterpunk Award—a ceremony I’ve been to—it’s also now up for an Audie:

American Indians, American Horror

Horror, no matter the sub-genre, is always about survival. Of the body, the mind. The heart, the soul. The status quo. The future. While horror isn’t the sole province of American Indians—horror’s for everyone—it does track that the many sovereign nations here in North America that survived an attempted genocide, a violent displacement, and a

Best Reads from Lately

The world’s oldest rock art discovered in Indonesia | National Geographic Hundreds of clergy descend on Minneapolis and go on lookout for ICE Welcome to the Camping Games (now please show up) | Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine | University of Colorado Boulder Ancient DNA Reveals Twisted Roots of Syphilis Go Back 5,500 Years :

Domain Name

Been “demontheory.net” since some readers somehow bought that for me back in 2005, I think it was? They ran this site for a year or two, then I took over, been messing it up ever since. But, after all this time, “stephengrahamjones.com,” which has been resolving TO “demontheory.net,” is finally the URL that sticks around.

Comics

& comic-booking, and the rascally comic-bookers who comic-book Anyway, went to add this one/below to my comic books page, and saw that I never got around to building it up. So, it’s built up now. Right up to the left, here (in the current iteration of the site): hot topics>talking about>comic books.

New Flash Story Up

It would be in the new & improved States of Grace, but . . . didn’t write it in time:

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